The present invention is generally related to children's riding toys, and more particularly, to a stand for a rocking horse or other toy.
Rocking horses typically are supported on a stand with a vertical member at each one of the four corners of the stand. A helical spring extends from the top of each vertical member to a horse shaped body suspended by the springs in the middle of the stand. With this configuration, when a child is riding the horse, the springs permit the horse to rock back and forth. An example of such rocking horses is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,155,390 to Moore et al. This design, however, can be possibly become unstable due to a child causing excessive movement of the rocking horse and, in turn, the stand.
Thus, other known rocking horses have stands with extra brace members that lie across the floor providing a large base or contact area. Such rocking horse stands are disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,489 to Lathe et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,406,934 to Grudoski; U.S. Pat. No. 2,891,792 to Thoeming; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,437,015 to Baltz. However, none of these rocking horses feature a stable design where only the feet of the rocking horse touch the floor.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved rocking horse stand that is stable, economical to produce and easy to assemble.